Three-year-old Maddie vanished from a Praia da Luz apartment in May 2007. She had been left alone sleeping with her younger siblings while her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas restaurant.

Her parents Kate and Gerry recently said they still try to shield their 12-year-old old twins from cruel, false and libellous taunts being made against the family, which Kate describes as 'shocking, striking and quite hard to get your head round'.

In a TV interview to mark the milestone decade anniversary in May Kate told how the abuse has been 'shocking,' adding: 'Why would someone in a position of ignorance write that, add to someone's upset? It is so awful and upsetting and it becomes more of a talking point.'

Kate, 49, a former GP who has taken up a new medical post, told BBC presenter Fiona Bruce they have 'tried to educate Sean and Amelie a little bit because it's not just us that has fallen victim to the downside of social media.'